Study On The Beijing Court Music

Early in the 11th century BC in the Western Zhou Dynasty, Beijing was already the capital of Yan, but left almost no records of court music. In the 10th century AD, Beijing became the capital of Liao. In 1153, the central capital of Jin was built in Beijing. It is when court music could be first found in Beijing. The last three Chinese feudal dynasties---- Yuan, Ming and Qing, all had their capitals founded there, and it has become a veritable political, economic and cultural center.Imperial court music includes music pieces created and recorded by court musicians, musical works brought into the royal court by other nations and some excellent works of folk music. At the same time a lot of skilled musicians gathered at the court, where musicians of specialized music agencies recorded music and dance performing in the imperial palace. In view of this, records of court music seem relatively accurate. Whether it is from an artistic point of view or scale to meet the royal pleasure, the level of music especially the Yan music for appreciation and pleasure is quite exquisite, which reflected a high level of court music and royal style.Development of court music of the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, which established their capitals in Beijing, has its similarities and differences. Compared with the preceding dynasty, some musical genres had little change. What was most typical went to the court sacrificial ritual music. In terms of its names and songs, it was performed to praise and eulogize the emperor's achievement, pray for blessing and longevity, propagate the county's prosperity and peace. The purpose of this kind of music was to closely work with the royal political activities. Court sacrificial ritual music mainly had two sources. One was ritual music and ancient music passed down from the previous dynasty, the other was music composed originally at that time, including some external music elements. In accordance with History of the Ming dynasty--Music, at the court"most songs of Ming were combined and altered from that of Han, Tang, Song and Yuan, which were named another one."Some genres, such as Zhonghe Shaoyue and Danbi Dayue, performed in sacrificial rites, morning practices and royal banquets, showed a great assimilation from Ming's music. In terms of formation of sacrificial ritual music, each melody was comprised of several musical compositions, and different songs could be used after the same name of music. Moreover, their playing order of songs could be rearranged when necessary, so that various types of sacrificial ritual music would be produced. This kind of music composition had a lot in common with other dynasties. In contrast to the predecessor, each dynasty's musical genre presented great absorption and further development. In the 14th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty,"Mongolian songs can be interpreted into Mantonese"and "Where music, and learn all of Manchuria, Mongolia's text, and optional and behavior."Emperor Qianlong encouraged to accept Mongolian culture, so Music of Yuan started to appear in the music of Qing. Though most were not played originally but transformed, they maintained their former characteristics.Court music not only included native music handed down from generation to generation, but formed its own music by incorporating music of preceding dynasty, music of ethnic minorities as well as the foreign songs. Take the Sixteen Tianmo Dance from Henan for example. Dadu court's Buddhist music and dance the Sixteen Tianmo Dance in the Yuan dynasty flowed into the folk. Zaju Xiao Taohong written by Zhu Youdun of Ming, employed the Tianmo Dance to display the dance of fairies. In the 18th chapter of Dream of red mansions written by Cao Xueqin of Qing, Yuanfei went home to visit her parents. The play performed for Yuanfei was said to have similarities with Tianmo Dance.Beijing's geographical location helped a lot to promote the prosperity of music exchange. Its abundance and wealth attracted people of different ethnics, people from all parts of China, where culture and music exchange was thriving as never before. it opened a new chapter of regional culture exchange.At the end of the Qing dynasty, the development of Beijing court music tended to tarry, while the status of folk music began to change gradually.Court music and folk music were not completely independent. Actually court music had a penetrating effect on folk music. The typical pieces are the Temple of Heaven Yayue and the Chengde Imperial Villa music, in both of which strong trace of court music could be found.Beijing gained its higher reputation in the world after successfully holding 2008 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Beijing court music would become a comparatively important part of Chinese music in Chinese long history. This paper tries to study Biejing court music, focusing on is transmission, transformation, absorption and development.